Saturday, February 28, 2009

"Green plateaus protruding through a dense fog. Pink and white laurel petals falling into a clear, cool stream. Rushing rivers spilling through a mountain gorge. These are the images that welcome us back to Pennsylvania after we've been away for too long. And when we hit the trail again, inhaling the scent of fallen pine needles and air charged with the mists of cascades, we know we are home.

A thousand times we've felt the pull of wanderlust, and a thousand times we've driven into the ancient Appalachians and been reminded why we couldn't leave. Our forests and wilderness areas are the fuel that keep us running."

Though we offered this sentiment for the entire state, especially after our extensive travels in 2005 throughout Pennsylvania to gather experiences and photographs for our guide, we admit that our small corner of PA with its borders along West Virginia and Maryland were the images we held in our minds as the book went to press.

Here, the flowing waters of the Youghiogheny River and Meadow Run serve in an oxymoronic capacity to soothe and energize at once, as if the errant electrons passing from the water to us replace any stagnant air, thoughts, and emotions with fresh perspective and refueled lungs. Melodramatic? Maybe. Necessary? Absolutely. That's why we continue to return.

(edited from the original Field Notes by Heidi Ruby Miller newsletter, April 2008)

Friday, February 06, 2009

This is a dream job for me because it combines my degrees in Anthropology, Geography, and Writing, and my experience as an educator, archaeologist, and travel industry worker.

Neil Gaiman once mentioned something about each one of us connecting to certain energy centers around the world: that's how Kentuck feels to me.

The photo to the left was taken by my good friend Darlene Martin when I was still a guide in June 2008. Those beautiful white hexagons on the terrace's flagstone floor come from skylights in the cantilevered ceiling. They migrate depending on the season and time of day. In early summer, they make a path straight through the dining room and out to the back patio.

NEWS Lettered Edition of Ambasadora

PUBLICATIONS I am so excited to share this special lettered hardcover edition of AMBASADORA: Marked By Light from Dog Star Books . There ...

NEWS Starrie in Publishers Weekly

Nice review from Publisher's Weekly for Starrie (From the World of Ambasadora)!
"Miller’s short third novel in the space-faring, caste-bound, hierarchically polyamorous, and socially striated Ambasadora universe (after 2013’s Greenshift) manages to balance the exoticized presentation of the setting with relatable human interaction...the romance between Ben and Naela highlights the emotional side of reaching out to those who are different from you, even in a world where those differences are stylized and codified."

TALKING ABOUT THE AMBASADORA SERIES

"AMBASADORA has a lot to say about the human spirit and it says it well." -MIKE RESNICK Nebula and Hugo Award-winning Author of the Santiago series

TALKING ABOUT MAN OF WAR

Science fiction is full of tales of displaced heroes, finding themselves involved in the conflicts of their adoptive worlds....Heidi Ruby Miller really runs with this concept, as Two Hawks finds himself equally used and abused by pretty much everyone he comes into contact with. Being a novella, it’s a fairly quick read, action-packed and gripping....I generally like to find something to criticise, no matter how small, just to avoid being taken for one of the current rash of meaningless five star reviewers that currently infest the internet, but I honestly couldn’t find anything to complain about. I genuinely hope Miller and Meteor House plan on continuing the story with further books." -DAVE BRZESKI, British Fantasy Society

TALKING ABOUT MANY GENRES

"...a beautiful and insightful must-have book for any writer, from newbie to working pro. Highly recommended!" -JONATHAN MABERRY NYT Bestselling Author of the Joe Ledger series

TALKING ABOUT STARRIE

"Take authentic, straight-ahead space opera. Stir in a highly trained, kick-ass assassin on a mission of vengeance. Toss in a career soldier and watch them battle together, and grow together, as adversity piles on. Serve hot! Heidi Ruby Miller’s STARRIE serves up the perfect concoction of nonstop, take-no-prisoners SF action and romance, set against the intriguing backdrop of the brutal and dangerous world of AMBASADORA, and deftly leaves us wanting more." -Win Scott Eckert, coauthor with Philip José Farmer of The Evil in Pemberley House and author of The Scarlet Jaguar, winner of the 2014 New Pulp Award

TALKING ABOUT MARKED BY LIGHT

"With an anthropologist’s eye for world building and an engaging fast-paced style, Heidi Ruby Miller hurtles her characters through a dystopian labyrinth in which hollow beauty is revered and love a virtual crime." -Christopher Paul Carey, SWORDS AGAINST THE MOON MEN

TALKING ABOUT MAN OF WAR

"More than just demonstrating how the best science fiction thrills with action, and explores romance in new and unexpected ways, Heidi Ruby Miller gives us something equally important -- representation, through an exploration of Farmer's classic Iroquois character Two Hawks. Anyone interested in page-turners with diversity should stop what they're doing and read Man of War." -John Edward Lawson, Bram Stoker Award finalist and author of Bibliophobia

TALKING ABOUT STARRIE

"STARRIE is one ripping fast book and a well told story. I loved it!" --Basil Sands, The Big Thrill

TALKING ABOUT GREENSHIFT

TALKING ABOUT HEIDI'S WRITING

"...a writer-crush on Heidi Ruby Miller. I mean, holy crap, this girl can write! This is how you write Science-Fiction." -CARY CAFFREY Bestselling Author of The Girls from Alcyone trilogy

TALKING ABOUT STARRIE

"Miller’s short third novel in the space-faring, caste-bound, hierarchically polyamorous, and socially striated Ambasadora universe (after 2013’s Greenshift) manages to balance the exoticized presentation of the setting with relatable human interaction...the romance between Ben and Naela highlights the emotional side of reaching out to those who are different from you, even in a world where those differences are stylized and codified." -Publisher's Weekly

TALKING ABOUT MARKED BY LIGHT

"Talk about an outlaw hero that is larger than life. Talk about a hero who changes worlds." -JENNA BENNET NYT Bestselling Author of The Fortune series

TALKING ABOUT HEIDI'S STORIES

TALKING ABOUT STARRIE

"With explosive action, kick-ass heroes and romance that hits all the right notes, STARRIE gives fans of science fiction romance everything they want—at a breakneck pace. Plan to stay up all night finishing this one, it’s impossible to put down!" - RHONDA MASON Author of The Empress Game